Air Wars is a arcade side scrolling Shoot 'Em Up; a homage to those played in the arcades that is normally ideal for those 15 - 20 minute coffee breaks or as a break from more intensive AAA games. It was released on Steam on Jul 30, 2020 and has never been given away before here. Controls are W and S to move up and down and spacebar to shoot (unremappable in game but can use the up and down arrow keys instead of W/S).

There are no options for some reason so must be played windowed rather than full screen, and no way in game to turn off music or sounds as usual. For those wondering if you suffered from deja vu, yes this is from the same base template used for Thread Fred given away here March 30, 2023 and others but still a shorter game overall with 3 levels to get to the end.

Shoot 'em ups, a video game genre that's unfortunately also known as "shmups," is a category which has been part of the gaming industry over decades and includes both side scrolling (horizontal) and vertical scrolling games. Like beat 'em ups, shoot 'em ups were arcade staples that have found new life on home video game consoles and computers when machines began vanishing from laundromats, pizza joints, and arcades.

While its certainly playable, this is a very basic version of these games; The gameplay consists mainly of repetitively flying between two rocks, shooting an enemy (bee) bomb or tnt to change things up, and collecting a balloon if possible over 3 levels - which has no real purpose such as for healing except for a steam achievement we cant get in this version. There is also a spaceship and laser strike to avoid which flashes in advance to give you notice to move out of the way.

Its actually more playable than some attempts so worth a try, has a few adds like a couple things to shoot rather than just one, and when you get hit the screen at least doesnt flip making it possible to actually play and get to the end. Keep in mind that you have to finish in one go as dying restarts you from level 1 and there is no save or restart from the level you were at, but is not very long at all for those wanting to try. Perhaps this one was more of a learning experience for this developer and should keep that in mind.

Rating: D+

If today’s game doesn’t appeal to you and you still need a game fix, there are always alternative freebies available regularly posted on the giveawayoftheday forums. Delenn has done a great job keeping up with most of these and others have been filling in the cracks. Two different threads you can bookmark or subscribe to each one to get email notifications:
https://www.giveawayoftheday.com/forums/topic/466757/page/19
https://www.giveawayoftheday.com/forums/topic/467382/page/19

According to Steam, it's a shortie. Perhaps a very shortie. 3 levels, if you can master them. But the reviewer on Steam said that he/she did figure it out and then breezed through it. Not trying myself because none of these marked as requiring a Core2 Duo processor have worked on this ancient machine.

Either way, happy gaming.